18 Members of the Burnham on Crouch RNLI Crew have successfully completed an intensive First Aid Course held over two weeks at the station.

The course consisted of a mixture of classroom type lessons together with practical sessions culminating in a simulated exercise held in the Marina on a chilly, windy Thursday evening, including a ‘live’ casualty.

Topics covered included the care of unconscious breathing patients, resuscitation and ventilatory support, control of major bleeding, non traumatic chest pain, allergic reactions, diving related illnesses and sea sickness. The treatment of head, chest and spinal injuries, fractures and burns were also covered.

The RNLI, as an organisation, takes the training of its crew members extremely seriously and the course included two exam papers as well as practical assessments.

The crew at Burnham would like to thank their trainers for the course, Vicki Tomalin and Nick Darlison from the Lifeboat College in Poole, who made the entire course interesting, fun and informative whilst never moving away from the serious nature of the subject.

The crew really enjoyed the experience and are now planning a series of additional training exercises to help maintain their newly learned skills.

To view photos from the course, click here